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Behind the Photo: the Tree of Life

A photo of the tree of life with the following facts: It is the shortest park icon. The legend told by imagineers is that a seed was once planted by a tiny ant in the hopes that the tree would provide shelter for the animals at the watering hole. It grew, and as it provided shelter, the reflections of the animals drinking from the watering hole bounced off the tree and were carved there. The tree of life is recycled. It's interior is actually an upside-down oil rig that can withstand florida hurricanes. In the evening, the Animal Kingdom theme park has a nighttime show where there are periodic projections on the tree. Because it runs all night, it's a more chill experience than other parks. Near the exit to It's tough to be a bug, there is a carving of David Greybeard, the first chimp that trusted Jane Goodall and the first chimp she saw using tools. It is there at Jane's request. There are more than 320 animals carved into the tree, though cast members will tell you animals are always emerging. If you look at the tree in different light, you'll see why. The tree of life sits on the central hub of Animal Kingdom, called Discovery Island. There used to be another Discovery Island in the middle of Bay Lake, which was a minor attraction guests could visit to see exotic plants and birds. When Animal Kingdom was built, it was closed, but the birds and many of the staff moved to the new Discovery Island in Animal Kingdom theme park.

Zoom in for a larger view.

Want to see your picture in "Behind the Photo"? Comment on this post on our Facebook page. Here's the fine print if you want to play along:

By commenting with a photo, you agree that we can use it to create a "behind the photo" graphic and post it on our website.
Not all photos lend themselves to trivia, sorry, so not all can be selected, but we'll do our very best.
Inappropriate photos will be removed. Inappropriate is at my discretion, though I think we all know what that means.
Please use photos without people as the focus. There might be people in it, I mean, it is Disney after all.... but ideally the people are not recognizable from the photo. "People" includes children. It's not that I don't find them cute. It's just that I don't want their pictures plastered all over the internet.
Only Walt Disney World photos, please!

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